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Consider the contract termination feeMost long-term internet or cable/satellite service contracts offer an escape hatch if you鈥檙e willing to pay for it, Hamm writes.
Spend that windfall wisely (even if you didn't win the Powerball lottery)Huge windfalls, like Wednesday's $580 million Powerball lottery drawing, get all the attention, but every day Americans get smaller surges of money 鈥� an annual bonus, for example, or a tax refund. You might be tempted to use it to pay off your credit card balances. Not so fast. There might be better ways to use it to improve your overall financial position. Here are five questions to ask yourself before you decide what to do with that windfall:
FedEx driver fired over Russian accent, lawsuit saysA FedEx driver says he was fired over his thick Russian accent, and is suing FedEx for damages. The driver, a Russian immigrant, says his English is perfectly understandable and that his firing was unwarranted.聽
Powerball lottery: We have two winnersPowerball lottery jackpot reached a record $588 million before Wendesday night's drawing. Two winning Powerball lottery tickets were sold, in Arizona and Missouri.
Home sales fall in OctoberHome sales fell 0.3 percent since September according to the US Census Bureau's New Residential Home Sales Report.
Bungee jumping over the 'fiscal cliff'Rather than stoking middle-class fears about the 'fiscal cliff,' the White House ought to be reassuring most Americans they can survive the fall, Reich writes.
Powerball lottery jackpot hits record $550 millionWith Powerball lottery drawing hours away, Americans are snapping up tickets for the estimated $550 million jackpot. The record Powerball jackpot is renewing questions about its burden on lower income groups, but it may be less burdensome than other lotteries.聽
Stocks climb on hopes for 'cliff'-skirting dealStocks聽rose in afternoon trading Wednesday聽on signs that the US may avoid the 'fiscal cliff' after all. 'Fiscal cliff'聽concerns have weighed on stocks since the election.
Mortgage rates drop to 3.4 percentThe latest data from the聽Mortgage Bankers Association shows an average decrease of 1 basis point in聽30-year fixed-rate mortgages since last week.
Would a one-dollar coin save Americans money?Karlsson explores the economics of switching from a one-dollar note to a one-dollar coin.聽From a Swedish perspective, Karlsson writes, changing to a coin would seem natural.
Powerball winners: Cautionary tales, lessons from past lottery winnersPast winners of mega-lottery drawings and financial planners offer advice to Powerball winners on how to manage a $500 million windfall. How to avoid the pitfalls of instant Powerball wealth.
Is there such a thing as too much energy?Government moves energy from the future to the past, Bonner writes, from what will be to what used to be, and finally, to what will be no more.
Costco pays special 'fiscal cliff' dividend to investorsCostco is paying shareholders a special dividend of $7 per share, in addition to the regular quarterly payout the wholesaler gives investors. Costco is one of many companies making special payouts because investors may have to pay higher taxes starting in January.聽
Ten tax moves to protect yourself from the fiscal cliffAmericans are facing an unprecedented tax increase of nearly $500 billion on Jan. 1, 2013, from the so-called "fiscal cliff." Are you ready? Here are 10 year-end tax strategies I recommend:
Smart phone savings: Avoid long-term contracts
Medicare, social program cuts: Will Democrats go along?Medicare, Obamacare, and other social programs are at the heart of a disconnect over the 'fiscal cliff' in Washington. Republicans appear willing for tax increases but only if Democrats accept big cuts in Medicare and other social programs. 聽
Progress WatchGender pay gap is eroding, especially among younger women, US data showWomen are slowly making inroads in the gender pay gap. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data for full-time workers show women earn 82 percent as much as men, up from 64 percent in 1980.
After Cyber Monday frenzy, Giving Tuesday taps the quiet impulse to giveGiving Tuesday, launched by New York's 92nd Street Y, the United Nations Foundation, and 2,000 corporate and nonprofit partners, aims to make giving as fixed a holiday feature as shopping.
Cyber Monday, Black Friday sales strong. Do they matter?Cyber Monday set sales records and Black Friday spending was robust. But the long Black Friday weekend is no barometer for overall holiday shopping 鈥� it may even be a negative.
Will Timothy Geithner lead us over or around the fiscal cliff?Timothy Geithner聽sees the world through the eyes of Wall Street rather than Main Street, Reich writes, which complicates fiscal cliff negotiations.
